City Council - Special Meeting

Right, right. Right. She was sick. I said no.

How much is left in their account with the 161,780.28. 161,780.28. And that's just for this, for their administrative budget. For them and Simmons Bank Park. Okay. Okay, everybody, it looks like we have a quorum. I think there are just a couple of other members who aren't here, but we can go ahead and go. How's everybody doing? Oh. So I do not believe that we received anyone who requested to speak on agenda items. Madam Clerk? OK. So we will go ahead and call the meeting to order. And I will ask for Councilmember Holcomb to lead us in invocation and Councilmember Mays to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Let us pray. Dear Gracious God, we thank you for letting us gather here today. We thank you for all of your blessing, your grace, and your mercy. We pray, Lord, for our entire city, our mayor, council, and all of our citizens. We just pray, Lord, that we govern ourselves accordingly as we do your city's business. We just pray for your continued blessings. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, council members. And I'll ask Madam Clerk to please call the roll. Council Member Mayes? Here.

Council Member Holcomb, Jr.?

Here.

Council Member Brown, Jr.? Here. Council Member Lockett?

Here.

Council Member Frazier? Here. Council Member Brunson? Here. Council Member Denton? Here. Council Member Fels?

Thank you. So the, um, we have, uh, two proposed, uh, resolutions. Council member Holcomb.

Okay. Yes. Madam mayor denied the number one resolution amending the 2026 municipal budget to allocate funds to the civic auditorium complex for maintenance and operations.

Whereas persistent inflation has resulted in increased maintenance and operation expenses for the civic auditorium complex, and the commission requests additional funds to pay these expenses. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the 2026 municipal budget is amended to transfer from the mayor's special projects account the sum of $100,000 to the account of the Civic Auditorium Complex Commission for use in defraying maintenance and operation expenses. The finance director will ensure that the 2026 budget is amended accordingly.

Move for adoption. Second.

It's been moved and seconded that item number one, be adopted. Any discussion? Council Member Lockett?

I just have one question. Sure. Now, Most budget adjustments are vetted through ways and means. This one seems to be different, and I'm just trying to see why are we deviating from policy where normally the budget adjustments are vetted through ways and means and forwarded to the council with a recommendation.

Well, I don't know. My understanding is as resolutions in a special council meeting that we could bring resolutions without a committee meeting. I'm not trying to circumvent anything. And so I'm not sure.

That's the case, but the whole budget goes through Ways and Means, and it's a resolution. So I was just trying to see this deviation. I don't know if it's a deviation.

I think there are a lot of budget amendments that we bring forth before without going through, if I recall correctly.

I'm not familiar with any budget.

Well, I'll tell you what, I mean, I'm not trying to circumvent anything because I could have asked for there to be a budget meeting just like there is every council meeting. Um, and I guess I just would defer to, um, Madam City Attorney to see if we could move forward with this and let the council vet it since all members of Ways and Means are here tonight.

There is no requirement that resolutions go through committee before they're presented to the council for approval.

Okay. All right. Well, I mean, I think that one of the things I did do is to ensure that Director Dunn is here, and I had planned to share the context here, especially since Councilmember Brown is here. chair of the AMP Commission. And I have worked with him and Director Dunn over time since their budget hearings and the budget cuts they experienced. So I had planned to share all of that context. And again, I know I was trying to circumvent any processes only to address the issue at hand and in the hopes that we could transfer these funds and the air conditioning issues can be resolved in addition to some other possible challenges with regard to their system. Any further questions? Council Member Mayes.

Now, $100,000.

Show me, where is it going? Okay, so I'd be happy to make a presentation. I just wanted to answer any other questions. And as I mentioned, Director Dunn is here, and I believe she has some information to share with you. But if you'll indulge me, I want to make sure there are no other initial questions. I will go ahead and provide the context and information. and then ask Director Dunn to come before you and share the information that I think will shed light. Do you have any further questions?

No.

Okay. Any further questions from council members who are present? Okay. So... During the time of the budget process for the Convention Center and A&P Commission, there was a cut of a little over $200,000 that had previously gone to the Convention Center. And without delving into all of the issues, the bottom line is the year before, that money was added to their budget because of then previous and ongoing infrastructure issues to the convention center's facilities. The largest expense, if I'm not mistaken, being the central heat and air system. And what I did was, in a meeting and in conversations with Councilmember Brown, who was chair of A&P Commission, and Director Dunn, is to pledge to hold aside and reserve $200,000 of the Mayor's Special Projects Fund balance to address any issues that might come before the Convention Center and A&P Commission. And bearing in mind that while the A&P Commission is legally responsible for these expenses, I also was clear that the A&P Commission was wanting to make sure to preserve their reserves, which I believe in past years is the fund out of which they spent money to address facilities emergencies. So to ensure that both commissions moved forward smoothly, I made that pledge. Um, probably a little over a couple of months ago, uh, or around a couple of months ago, I got a call from, um, the director with A and P commission. And, um, there was really back and forth, a request for meeting and some monies that had already been transferred to address, uh, central heat and air, um, situation. And, um, and apparently. it had been an ongoing problem because I did my due diligence and was already at the convention center one day. And there was a guy there fixing it. They had already spent about $16,000 on what they hoped would be the only monies they spent to make the initial repair. And when I was there, he was talking about a rebuild and way more money than $200,000. Ultimately, there was a meeting. They did a little more work. They found out what the issues were that are issues right now. And between that time and a meeting we had about three weeks ago, and when I say we, myself, leadership from the Convention Center, and the AMP, Commission Board, along with the vendors who have been doing the repairs over some years, they came to explain exactly what the problems were, what it would take to get it back stable, offering also the context that over past years, There had been no maintenance done to the system and numerous calls to address emergencies. So in between that, there have been two events where during the events, So the first one, the original location in the convention center was not used because the system did not work for the arena. So that event had to be moved to the ballroom. So crisis averted, even though that was an issue. Then the next time, there was an actual event in progress where the system went out and there was no air conditioning. And it was warm. It wasn't hot like it is now, but it was warm. And that's what precipitated the following meeting, where there was discussion back and forth. And I made a pledge for a little bit less than this, but I made it for a little bit less than this to say, hey, you guys, pay some expense and because this was meant to address emergencies and I also noticed that in their budget they were receiving they were ahead of their budget in revenues and I felt like they could spend some money now and with me following through to assist with any emergencies, which obviously this was one. And they ended up not taking a vote subsequently. In the meantime, at the beginning of the summer, And the work still hasn't been done. Plus, during the meeting with the vendor who explained all of the issues, we are now aware that there could be issues in the future. And I think that Director Dunn could speak to some of those, as well as the boiler in the fall. So what I am proposing to do is send the a hundred thousand, which is half of what I pledged so she can have enough to address any issues this summer. And I think anywhere, anything there after, would and could be reasonably addressed by A&P Commission given that they are in a more favorable place having, I think they're about, either it was 12 or 20% ahead in their revenue projections. So my aim is to make sure that we are taken care of this summer. and that we can continue to see growth in the number of events and activities successfully at our convention center, especially as we are entering into the opening of the Marriott Hotel toward the end of the year. The Convention Center and AMP commissions can continue to work together in the future. And if I could ask Director Dunn to come to the podium. And I think she might have some handouts for you all.

Madam Clerk, would you mind? The handouts?

Yeah, grabbing those, and then we can share them. I can give them to her.

Good evening, Mayor Flowers and members of the City Council. I'm sure there's no need for an introduction, but I am Barbara Dunn, the Executive Director for the Pine Bluff Convention Center. And I would like to first thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you today regarding the Pine Bluff Convention Center's HVAC chiller system. And also joining me today is Eric Hobbs. He's the Coordinator of Operations and Security. As many of you may be aware, and based on what the mayor has shared, the Pine Bluff Convention Center have experienced ongoing issues with our HVAC chiller system over the past several months. During this time, the facility has endured periods of limited to no air conditioning, which has impacted our operations and overall comfort of our guests at the center. We are actively working toward resolutions and have been meeting with Comfort System USA to address the situation and to identify both short-term and long-term repair options. Our primary goal is to maintain efficient operation while providing a safe and comfortable environment for all scheduled events, primarily during the summer months, which we are fastly approaching. So before you, I have a summary of service repairs and recommendations from Comfort System USA dating from August the 7th, 2023 to present. I respectfully ask that you take a few minutes to review the information. And I would like to highlight that this has been an ongoing situation prior to my arrival. I started at the Convention Center on August the 4th, 2024, and Glenn can speak to this. There's always been issues pertaining to the HVAC system. And should you have any questions pertaining to where we are now, I can address any questions as well as Eric. Eric is very knowledgeable, and he's been working very closely with Comfort Systems Air, which has been on our site practically for weeks. Are there any additional questions?

I just want to say you all.

Council member Mays.

You all been doing a good job of keeping it going. Thank you. Which is good. And I'm going to support it. I just believe you all can get things done. Y'all don't just be talking. Y'all get it done. Ms. Dunn. Thank you.

Thank you all, Mr. Mays.

You got my support.

Thank you. Any further questions for Director Dunn? Councilmember Brown, do you have any comments? No comments. Okay. With no further discussion, all of those who wish to vote for resolution or item number one on the agenda, indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Director, thank you, council.

Agenda item number two. A resolution authorizing the Mayor of the City of Pinewood, Arkansas to execute a memorandum of agreement with the Pinewood Urban Renewal Agency regarding funding support for the Go-Kart course project requiring certain financial disclosures, project reporting and private funding assurance, and for other purposes.

Whereas Resolution No. 5002, the City Council of the City of Pine Bluff authorized the allocation of $860,000 to the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency to assist with the construction, furniture, fixtures, and equipment maintenance and operation of the go-kart course project. And whereas approximately $386,146.17 of the allocated funds remain available for transfer to the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency. And whereas the City Council recognized the importance of completing the Go-Kart project in a fiscally responsible manner, ensuring the long-term viability of the project. And whereas the City Council desires to receive assurances that the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency has secured $1.2 million in private funds specifically designated for the Go-Kart course project to support construction, FF&E, maintenance, and operational expenses. And whereas City Council further desires to obtain updated financial and project information regarding the status of the Go-Kart course project, including expenditures, contractual obligations, and anticipated completion timelines. And whereas the city council finds that entering into a memorandum of agreement with the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency is in the best interest of the city and its citizens. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Section 1, the Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to negotiate and execute the attached memorandum of agreement with the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency concerning the Go-Kart Course Project. Section 2, the MOA shall require the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency to provide written documentation and assurances demonstrating that it has secured one point two million dollars in private funds specifically designated for the go-kart course project for the purpose of construction f f need maintenance and operations section three prior to or contemporaries with the transfer of the remaining balance of approximately three hundred eighty six thousand one hundred forty six dollars and and seventeen cent authorized under the uh... resolution number five thousand to the problem for renewal agency shall provide to the city council and the mayor a written project status report containing a minimum of the following information, a timeline for identifying major project milestones completed today, remaining ma remaining milestones, estimated days for completion for each remaining milestone and the anticipated final completion date of the gold cart course project being a detailed accounting of the project expenditures, including total project expenditures incurred from the project inception through the date of the report, total expenditures during the municipal budget year 2024, 2025, and 2026, and identification of funding sources utilized for such expenditures. c. A detailed summary of all contracts and financial obligations associated with the project, including the name of each contractor, consultant, vendor, company engaged on the project, original contract amount, any approved amendments or change orders, total amount paid to date, remaining contract balance, total budget allocated for each contract, and outstanding obligations, liabilities, or anticipated expenditures associated with each contract. Section 4, the City Council will further request that the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency provide periodic updates as reasonably requested by the Mayor or City Council regarding the status of the project funding, expenditures, construction progress, maintenance planning, and other, and operational readiness. Section 5, the Mayor, City Clerk, and all other appropriate officials are hereby authorized to take any actions necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this resolution. Section 6, if any provision of this resolution is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions that can be given effect without the invalid provision. And to this end, the provisions of this resolution are declared severable. Section 7, this resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

Is there a second? with no second, then this will not be considered. While we were still here though, I think it's pertinent to share with the council that decided earlier this year to send almost a million dollars to the Urban Renewal Agency, making Mr. Matthews, and therefore me, responsible to sign off on invoices aware of where we are and what some of the concerns and challenges have been and remain. So before we adjourn, I would like to go through that information. And I just will begin by saying that I just would remind the council who is here tonight that the responsibility to sign off on invoices was placed with an office under my authority, I am required to sign off on payment for these invoices. Meanwhile, many of the issues that I tried to address with the council months ago, were not necessarily addressed in the resolution, nor were they addressed in the memorandum of understanding between the council, I'm sorry, between the the go forward with the $1.2 million pledged and the Urban Renewal Agency. And I guess I just would boil it down to this. In order to begin the process and be prepared and provide information, Mr. Matthews met with urban renewal director and discovered that there was no ongoing documentation that outlined the value or the amount of the contracts, change orders, and I'm saying on one document, change orders, what had been paid thus far, what was left to be paid for the contract. So he did put that together. He also gathered copies of all of the contracts. And I believe that there are six contracts between four companies. And also, we requested for Director Devers to gather information on what had been spent thus far. And when we began this process, um, we discovered that, um, before January 1, 2025, the amount of money that had been, um, spent, I believe it was spent or dedicated at that point. Director Devers, on page four it's the I'm talking about the the 2.7 million so without the 860 thousand dollars that was approved and then invoices paid with other monies prior to that in the amount of $335,000. The bottom line is almost the amount of the contracts had already been spent by the time that I had even arrived at office. Now, If you look at the handout that Director Devers gave you, you will see that the contracts amount, just the contracts alone for construction, amount to $3 million, $51,756.40. The pre-construction amounts, or amount that was paid toward pre-construction activities was over half a million dollars, $554,889.56. Now these other items are still remaining and are not included and what will need to be paid, like FF&E, other planned expenses, and I'm not sure what non-contract means. Director Devers, can you clarify that?

There are expenses that have been paid toward the project that were not included in any of the contracts that were entered into.

Okay. And were those, and was that amount approved by the board prior to payment? I can't say for sure. Okay. So that's $55,584.68 for non-contract expenses. Then furniture fixtures, and equipment amounts to $62,000 estimated. And then other planned expenses, and I guess we can hear from Mr. Matthews what that entails, is another $156,000 at 56 and $70. So that brings the total amount before beginning operations to almost $4 million. $3,880,364. Now, the reason that I'm here today is to ensure that progress and completion are made. And I think that everyone has expressed commitment to see this thing through, but we cannot do this blindly. If we see that right now there's only a remaining $386,146.17, the project shortage is half a million dollars. pledged $1.2 million, but there's nothing that we've seen that exists in writing that even refers to it, except the MOU that was attached to the resolution, which then was unsigned, and we only got a signed copy of that today. Even in that resolution, I mean, in that MOU, has nothing about timelines, the end of the project, nor does it say anything about 6th and Main. So I believe that in the information that you received, it gives you an outline of the urban renewal budget, the Simmons Bank Park, costs and what has been paid or spent to date. What has been spent to date this year for the operations of both the Urban Renewal Agency and Simmons Bank Park is $161,780.28. We're not even halfway through the year. But let's say if we double that, then you're still looking at Just about what is budgeted. What is budgeted for both of those operations is well over $300,000 a year. Right now, Urban Renewal Agency has $240,431.55 in its budget. There's nothing in the pledge document that in any way dedicates any of that money to cover the operations for Urban Renewal Agency or for Simmons Bank Park. My biggest concern is that, number one, not only is there nothing in the language that exists in that MOU or anywhere else that commits that the remainder of the expenses be paid because the language says that urban renewal agency may submit invoices to go forward Pine Bluff, but it does not require the commitment of any of that to be paid, nor does it mention the Simmons Bank Park and Urban Renewal Agency. And if there is no room for discussion about the solution, which that's not what I'm trying to do, but that means When there are no more funds and there's an expectation for all of this to be supported so it can continue to run, the only place that they can come back to if there are no other funds raised is the city. With that, I would like to ask Madam City Attorney We had a conversation earlier to speak to what typically and should happen in the case of a financial pledge between entities and once the conditions for the pledge are met. Madam City Attorney, can you shed some light on what typically happens contractually?

Ideally, what should have happened, I would say probably years ago, would have been that there should have been, the parameters should have been set out in the contract so that the obligation and expectations are laid out and we're not in the situation at this point where we don't have any specifics. We can't, there's no agreement as to how the money should be spent, when the money should be spent, what, under what conditions is the 1.2 commitment satisfied because arguably, you know, with no parameters, you can't, there's nothing to hold you to it. And of course, we're here with ambiguity as it relates to whether those funds are actually committed. I think at this point, I think the mayor is just requesting clarity and more specificity as it relates to how the funds will be spent and that some confirmation as it relates to the commitment from Go Forward Pine Bluff and Urban Renewal as it relates to how they plan to actually expend those funds.

Thank you. And Mr. Matthews, if you would, um, come to the podium and just share, um, and maybe offer council members a report of your observations and, um, and involvement.

Thank you. Good afternoon, City Council Mayor. As most of you all know, I got involved with the project the first of March. The council asked that I would come in and review all pay requests, do the pass-through, make sure that the payments requests were actually in place and being done and completed. We followed that process. We began with the $860,000 that the city has committed. During that course of time, we had to go and do some research, look at contracts, because the way they were being presented, the invoices, did not show what the beginning contracts were, what had been paid, and what the balances were. So after that point, after we put that all together and started looking at the project overall, the contractor and the work that's being done, No problem. They are proceeding on. We have no problem with the work that's being done. But we're getting to a point now where we have more contract commitments than we have dollars left that the city has appropriated. They have not stopped work. It took us a little while to get them started, but they are still continuing on. We are close, but there are commitments. through contracts that they have that we do not have enough money to pay for. And I'm pretty sure that's one of the reasons the mayor is bringing it to the council. How do we have the insurances that we can pay this balance for our $349,000? And the invoices are not going to come to me or to Mrs. Griffith where we can pay It may come in, one contractor may bring $300,000, another may bring $181,000. So how do we make those payments? Because the invoices come from the contractor, not from Go Forward. So that is the obstacle that we're looking at, even when they do come, how do we pay them, in what fashion? Now, it was my recommendation to the mayor that we at least complete the building to show that we have a completed project. We only have $349,000 left. He has a balance on his contract around $323,000. So we got about a $212,000 shortfall just in construction. I have not looked at any of the aspects that are involved with the overall project. But just in construction, we have a $212,000 shortfall. And depending on how the invoices come in and how we pay those invoices, who will get paid and who will not get paid with the balance of the dollars. But other than that, the project is moving along fine. We are very close on the project. But those were the concerns. that I gave to the mayor because typically on any other public service project, we would have known what our balances were where we go through the project as we go through. And we have some invoices that are coming in that We still don't understand what they mean and how they approach the project. But as far as construction, which I've been putting my concerns to, that's the only thing I've been looking at. There are some outside invoices that come in that's not affiliated that are being sent over for approval. So this is where we are with the project at some point. Once we pay that, I don't know where we are. I know in the safe, and for instance, the auditors, we're going to need to see the project all the way through. The auditors are not going to just stop at all the money that the city has spent. They want to see the end product. They want to see the files. They want to see everything done. So I assume that's where we are now. I just wanted to let the council know, keep the mayor informed on how the project goes. The project itself is going fine. It's just... The funding. Any questions?

Council Member Lockett.

I just got one comment, Mr. Matthews, and I'll say it clearly. This is not our project. We only committed to 860, and when you spend 860, you stop. And then they pull from whatever revenues they have. But this is not our project. We commit only 860 on the balance of it. However we can do that, they can select the contracts, but we don't have to pay every contract. Only up to 860 and then we stop. And any way you can do that or work that out with them, that's the letter of the law in terms of the appropriation. We don't have a cent more than 860.

Well, I will relay that on to the director because I don't have personal contact with the contractors. But it depends on how the invoices come to me for me to pass it on to the mayor. If it's not there, I'll just let them know it's not there. I can't pay this invoice because the funding is not there when we get to that point.

Yes, sir. Please do, because I'm saying if they submit you a $400,000 invoice and you only have $300,000, you just meet with Ms. Griffin and say that Urban Renewal got to do the balance.

Well, I will inform her.

I mean, that's the only thing we can do to anything else. You are paying over what the council has appropriated. I agree.

Council Member Mayes.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And the funding. We talk about taxpayers' money. We ought to be better stewards as far as this communication here. It's not good. You know? Urban renewal, there's urban renewal. I wish they'd just leave and be done with urban renewal. You know?

We work well with Urban Renewal through the process that the council asked me to do. I have not had a problem with the process. It's just that we're down to the dollars and cents. How do I approach those dollars and cents when I get the invoices? And I will take Alderman Lockett's opinion and advice.

It's a money pit. Just dropping money into it is doing nothing.

Progress, they're going ahead with the plans that they have. I have no problem with that. The construction is fine. It really is. It's just a funding mechanism that's kind of out of whack from a normal project that I would run. All right.

Any further discussion? The only thing that I will close with is that While it may not be a project that went through the mayor's office, it was a project that was voted on to continue to fund with almost a million dollars in city funds to an entity that is a creation of the city council and of city government. And so to say that it is not our project, I think that with, um, almost $4 million of taxpayer dollars, city, um, residents and taxpayers would beg to differ. And all I am trying to do is make sure that we do our due diligence as a city and get the proper documentation to ensure that all parties are protected and that the money that was dedicated in March, toward the completion of the project actually see a completed project. And I'm not talking about just even the construction. but the completion of the project has to extend even beyond that to the actual operation. Otherwise, we will have a $4 million edifice that's supposed to be an entertainment center and no one can go inside because we don't even know what the plan is to run the operation. What contracts may or may not exist, and there seems to be no interest in that. But I'm trying to act in a way that not only protects the project and this council, this mayor, urban renewal agency, and go forward, but especially the people in this city. And I would have hoped to have seeing that there be some action taken toward that end. But we all have a job to do and all of you have votes and I respect that. And with that, we are adjourned.